Systems and methods for blockchain based payment networks

ABSTRACT

A payment network is operated with a blockchain-based ledger. In one embodiment, a request is prepared to complete a transaction from an account associated with a payer digital wallet for entry on a blockchain. The request includes an amount and a payee identifier associated with a payee digital wallet. The request is sent to the blockchain and approved. A balance of the payer digital wallet and a balance of the payee digital wallet are adjusted in response to approval of the request to complete the transaction by at least writing a portion of data associated with the transaction comprising the amount and the payee identifier to the blockchain. A reputation ledger associated with the account is recorded in the blockchain in association with the transaction. The reputation ledger includes at least one reputation score associated with at least one previous transaction conducted by the account.

FIELD

This disclosure relates to systems and methods for providing apeer-to-peer payment network running on a distributed database.

BACKGROUND

Payment networks typically implement various systems for processingtransactions between merchants and customers. Merchants are members ofthe payment network and the merchants are authorized to charge tocustomer accounts. Customers have a transaction account with the paymentnetwork. To complete a transaction, a merchant typically transmits apayment request to the payment network with transaction details and thecard member's account information.

Payment networks typically face increased costs and limitationsassociated with the traditional payment model. The payment networkimplements secure protocols for handling the payment requests, and suchsecure protocols along with network infrastructure are costly to developand maintain. The high network costs also result in high discount ratescharged to merchants using the payment network.

Transacting parties are also limited to predetermined roles based on thetype of account they have with the payment network. For example,merchants usually submit transactions to charge customers, whilecustomers cannot submit transactions to charge other customers ormerchants. The predetermined roles also make merchant onboarding to thepayment network complex and time consuming. Additionally, authorizationand settlement take a long time on traditional payment networks.Merchants often wait 48 hours after a transaction before receiving fundsin a typical payment network.

Crypto currencies such as Bitcoin exist in the marketplace. However,cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin rely on completely public blockchains.Furthermore, the value of crypto currencies, like Bitcoin, fluctuateswidely making holding such currencies akin to speculation and lessviable in emerging markets.

SUMMARY

A system, method, and computer readable medium (collectively, the“system”) is disclosed for a payment network using a blockchain-basedledger that is configured to execute payment transactions in response toblockchain requests. The system may prepare a request to complete atransaction from an account associated with a payer digital wallet forentry on a blockchain. The request may include an amount and payeeaddress associated with a payee digital wallet. The system may also sendthe request to the blockchain using a blockchain interface. The systemmay approve or decline the request. The system may further adjust abalance of the payer or a balance of the payee to reflect approval ofthe request. The adjustment may include writing the transaction to theblockchain.

In various embodiments, the system may assess a risk associated with thetransaction. The system may also approve the transaction in response tothe risk associated with the transaction being acceptable. The systemmay also transmit a notification (e.g., a push notification) to thepayee digital wallet that the transaction was successful. The system mayregister a digital wallet in response to validating a bank accountassociated with the payee digital wallet against the blockchain. Thedigital wallet may include an address and a private key associated withthe digital wallet. The address and the private key may be generated bya user device and stored locally on the user device.

The forgoing features and elements may be combined in variouscombinations without exclusivity, unless expressly indicated hereinotherwise. These features and elements as well as the operation of thedisclosed embodiments will become more apparent in light of thefollowing description and accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

The subject matter of the present disclosure is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. Amore complete understanding of the present disclosure, however, may beobtained by referring to the detailed description and claims whenconsidered in connection with the drawing figures, wherein like numeralsdenote like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a payment system configured to operate on a public,private, or semi-private leger maintained on a blockchain, in accordancewith various embodiments:

FIG. 2A illustrates a process for registering users for a paymentnetwork configured to operate on a blockchain-based leger, in accordancewith various embodiments;

FIG. 2B illustrates a system for registering users for a payment networkconfigured to operate on a blockchain-based leger, in accordance withvarious embodiments:

FIG. 3A illustrates a process for authenticating a user accessing adigital wallet for a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments:

FIG. 3B illustrates a system for authenticating a user accessing adigital wallet for a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4A illustrates a process for user notification using pushnotifications for a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 4B illustrates a system for user notification using pushnotifications for a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5A illustrates a process for preparing a blockchain for smartcontract calls, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 5B illustrates a system for preparing a blockchain for smartcontract calls, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6A illustrates a process for transferring funds between fiatcurrency and digital currency on a payment network configured to operateon a blockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 6B illustrates a system for transferring funds between fiatcurrency and digital currency on a payment network configured to operateon a blockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 7A illustrates a process for executing payment transactions betweentwo parties on a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 7B illustrates a system for executing payment transactions betweentwo parties on a payment network configured to operate on ablockchain-based leger, in accordance with various embodiments;

FIG. 8A illustrates a process for credit processing on a payment networkconfigured to operate on a blockchain-based leger, in accordance withvarious embodiments; and

FIG. 8B illustrates a system for credit processing on a payment networkconfigured to operate on a blockchain-based leger, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description of various embodiments refers to theaccompanying drawings, which show various embodiments by way ofillustration. While these various embodiments are described insufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice thedisclosure, it should be understood that other embodiments may berealized and that logical and mechanical changes may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Thus, thedetailed description is presented for purposes of illustration only andnot of limitation. For example, the steps recited in any of the methodor process descriptions may be executed in any order and are not limitedto the order presented. Moreover, any of the functions or steps may beoutsourced to or performed by one or more third parties. Furthermore,any reference to singular includes plural embodiments, and any referenceto more than one component may include a singular embodiment.

A payment network based on peer-to-peer payments may be used tofacilitate most functions of traditional card payment networks and toenable additional services and functionality. For example, a blockchaindriven peer-to-peer payment network enables near-instant transactionauthorization and settlement. Payment, authorization, and settlement onsuch a network results in money changing hands in an hour, 10 minutes, aminute, or less depending on the infrastructure used to implement thepayment network. For a blockchain-based peer-to-peer payment network, agoverning organization or consortium may control access to bank transferservices. Anyone can participate in the payment network, but in variousembodiments, only users that registered with the managingorganization(s) may transfer earned credits into fiat currency via wiretransfers to bank accounts. The blockchain may autonomously manageworkflows associated with payment processing as described in greaterherein.

The payment networks use a distributed ledger, which may be based on ablockchain and thus have consensus based transaction validation. Suchpayment networks may also enable digital currency smart contracts thatenforce business workflows in a decentralized manner and keep track ofaccount balances. The payment networks may also enable reputation basedsmart contracts that act as a directory of trustworthy entities as partof the network. A digital currency issuer may be included in the paymentnetwork and may be configured to transfer balances between externalbanks and digital currency based wallets vie electronic funds transfer(EFT) systems. The digital currency issuer may also connect customerswith lenders to convert lines of credit into digital currencies. Thepayment network may also include digital wallet services deployed onuser devices such as, for example, computers, tablets, smartphones,Internet of Things devices (IoT devices), etc. The digital wallet mayenable payments by interacting with the smart contracts and theblockchain underpinning the payment network.

With reference to FIG. 1, a payment system 100 is shown according tovarious embodiments. The end-to-end workflow of payment system 100 maybe orchestrated using smart contracts residing on blockchain 110. Ablockchain is a distributed database that maintains records in areadable manner and that is also resistant to tampering. In the contextof a payment network, a blockchain may serve as a digital ledgercontaining transactions conducted on the payment network.

Payment system 100 may include various computing devices configured tocommunicate via a network. For example, lending systems 104, EFT systems102, risk assessment systems 108, digital currency issuer systems 101,and user device 106 may each include computing devices configured toperform processes and communicate over a network. The computing devicesmay include any device capable of receiving and displaying an electronicmessage via a network and communicating with a blockchain 110.

For example, the computing devices may take the form of a computer orprocessor, or a set of computers/processors, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used. Exemplary computing devicesinclude servers, pooled servers, laptops, notebooks, hand heldcomputers, personal digital assistants, cellular phones, smart phones(e.g., iPhone®, BlackBerry®, Android®, etc.) tablets, wearables (e.g.,smart watches and smart glasses). Internet of things (IOT) devices orany other device capable of receiving data over network. Each computingdevice may run applications to interact with blockchain 110, communicatewith other devices, perform crypto operations, and otherwise operatewithin payment system 100.

As used herein, the term “network” includes any cloud, cloud computingsystem or electronic communications system or method that incorporateshardware and/or software components. Communication among the parties maybe accomplished through any suitable communication channels, such as,for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet, Internet,point of interaction device (point of sale device, personal digitalassistant, cellular phone, kiosk, tablet, etc.), online communications,satellite communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, transponder communications, local area network (LAN),wide area network (WAN), virtual private network (VPN), networked orlinked devices, keyboard, mouse and/or any suitable communication ordata input modality. Moreover, although the system is frequentlydescribed herein as being implemented with TCP/IP communicationsprotocols, the system may also be implemented using IPX, Appletalk,IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI, any tunneling protocol (e.g. IPsec, SSH), or anynumber of existing or future protocols. If the network is in the natureof a public network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageous topresume the network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet is generally known tothose skilled in the art and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See,for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997)and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002),the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

A network may be unsecure. Thus, communication over the network mayutilize data encryption. Encryption may be performed by way of any ofthe techniques now available in the art or which may becomeavailable—e.g., Twofish, RSA, El Gamal, Schorr signature, DSA, PGP, PKI,GPG (GnuPG), and symmetric and asymmetric cryptosystems. Asymmetricencryption in particular may be of use in signing and verifyingsignatures for blockchain crypto operations.

The blockchain may comprise a system of interconnected blocks containingdata. The blocks can hold transaction data, contract data, and/or otherinformation as desired. Each block may link to the previous block andmay include a timestamp. When implemented in support of a paymentnetwork, the blockchain may serve as a ledger for transfers of funds,contracts, offers, and other suitable data retained in the blockchain.The blockchain may be a peer-to-peer network that is private, consortiumand/or public in nature (e.g., Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc.). Consortium andprivate networks may offer improved control over the content of theblockchain and public networks may leverage the cumulative computingpower of the network to improve security.

A digital currency issuer system 101 may serve as the interface betweenexternal systems (e.g., EFT systems 102 or the lending systems 104) andthe payment network. Digital currency issuer system 101 may notify thedigital currency smart contract 112 of any external events initiated bya user such as, for example, fund transfers or line of credit approvals.Digital currency issuer system 101 may ensure that the digitalrepresentation of balances match the fiat balances. As used herein, afiat balance or a fiat currency refers to a currency established asmoney by government law or regulation. In that regard, a digital balancemay match a fiat balance (i.e., hard currency balance) of an account ifthe digital currently balance accurately reflects the fiat accountbalance after applying a conversion rate. For example, if the digitalcurrency can be transferred to and from dollars at a 1:1 rate, then thedigital balance matches the fiat balance when the account balances arethe same or similar.

In various embodiments, digital currency issuer system 101 may include ablockchain interface 116 configured to interact with the blockchain.Blockchain Interface 116 may be a client library or process used forinteracting with blockchain 110. Blockchain interface 116 may beimplemented using technologies such as, for example, Ethereum GETH,eth-lightwallet, or other suitable blockchain interface technologies.Digital currency issuer system 101 may also include a wallet service 118configured to coordinate orchestration between a digital wallet 120operating on a user device 106 and the external systems (e.g., lendingsystems 104 and EFT systems 102). For payment interactions, digitalwallet 120 running on user device 106 may interact with the blockchain110 directly using blockchain interface 116 on user device 106.

In various embodiments, EFT systems 102 may include an external (topayment network) server or set of servers that expose a set ofapplication programming interfaces (APIs) for interaction with othercomputing devices in payment system 100. EFT Systems 102 may managetransfers between bank accounts as orchestrated by the digital currencyissuer systems 101.

User device 106 may run a client application that can be a thin client(web) based, hybrid (i.e. web and native, such as iOS and Android), ornative application. User device 106 may also be configured tocommunicate with blockchain 110 by blockchain interface 116. Theblockchain interface may be an API or other interface suitable forinteracting with blockchain 110.

Payment system 100 may also include a risk assessment system 108configured to interact with blockchain 110 by blockchain interface 116.Risk assessment system 108 may be in communication with the Blockchain.Risk assessment system 108 may receive and send messages to blockchain110 over blockchain interface 116. Risk assessment system 108 may retainhistorical information about user agents, device IDs, transactions, andother data coupled to a user and/or user account. Risk assessment system108 may assess the likelihood of fraud for a transaction request andprovide the assessment to the digital currency smart contract 112 ofblockchain 110. Blockchain 110 may be configured to apply changes inresponse to an acceptable likelihood of fraud and roll the changes backin response to an unacceptable likelihood of fraud.

In various embodiments, blockchain 110 may host the digital currencysmart contracts 112 that autonomously govern the workflow of paymentsystem 100 by supporting execution and recording of various actions suchas account registration, balance transfers, purchases, or other relatedactions. Blockchain 110 may be based on blockchain technologies such as,for example, Ethereum, Open Chain, Chain Open Standard, etc. Digitalcurrency smart contract 112 controls the end-to-end flow of the system.Digital currency smart contract 112 is also configured to maintainaccounting for various user accounts by keeping a historic record oftransactions and balances. Digital currency smart contract 112 may thusinclude a program written in a programming language such as, forexample, Solidity, or any other suitable programming language.

In various embodiments, reputation smart contract 114 may maintaincustomer feedback on buyers and sellers, based on previously recordedinteractions. Reputation smart contract 114 may include a reputationledger. The reputation ledger may be built over time and recorded onblockchain 110. The relevant portions of the ledger may be provided topotential buyers and sellers prior to their engagement in e-commercewith other users, for example. Merchants and customers may leavefeedback within a time limit of a transaction. The transaction may bepublicly verifiable as the transaction history is available on theblockchain. The reviews may be numeric and/or text based and may becompiled into one or more reputation scores.

In various embodiments, digital wallet 120 may serve as an interface toa user. In that regard, digital wallet 120 may run on user device 106 asa thin web client, a hybrid app, or a native one. Digital wallet 120 mayuse a Hierarchical Deterministic (HD) Wallet solution and may use BIP32,BIP39, and/or BIP44 to generate an HD tree of public addresses. Digitalwallet 120 may also be configured to interact with the Blockchain eithervia a Blockchain client, such as GETH, or via API calls using ablockchain as a service provider, such as Microsoft Azure® or BlockappsSTRATO, for example. The various computing devices of payment system 100may be configured to complete payments and execute contracts usingblockchain 110 for data storage and/or validation. Smart contracts maybe completed by digital signature using asymmetric crypto operations anda private key, for example.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B, an exemplary registration process 200 forexecution on system 250 is shown, in accordance with variousembodiments. User 252 may interact with digital wallet 120 running on auser device 106 to enter and read information. Digital wallet 120 may bein electronic communication with wallet service 118 over network 254.Wallet service 118 may also be in electronic communication withblockchain 110 over network 254. Network 254 may include, for example, aWAN such as the internet, a smaller LAN, or one of the suitable networktypes described above. The steps of process 200 are oriented on system250 of FIG. 2B in a possible order of operation with the top arrowsindicating earlier execution than the bottom arrows.

Process 200 may begin with user 252 opening a digital wallet 120 (Block202). Digital wallet 120 running on user device 106 may prompt the userto register by presenting a registration form (Block 204). Aregistration form may, for example, include fields for user 252 to entera user name and enter a password. User 252 may thus enter usercredentials comprising a user ID, password, and any other informationentered into the registration form into digital wallet 120 (Block 206).

Digital wallet 120 may transmit the previously entered credentials towallet service 118 (Block 208). Wallet service 118 may register the userby storing the credentials in a user database (Block 210). The userdatabase may not be stored on the blockchain that is used as a ledgerand instead may be stored in, for example, a relational database.Digital wallet 120 may prompt user 252 for bank and contact informationby presenting a bank and contact information form (Block 212). User 252may fill in fields and thus enter bank and contact information intodigital wallet 120 (Block 214).

Digital wallet 120 may transmit the bank and contact information towallet service 118 over network 254 (Block 216). Wallet service 118 mayvalidate the user and/or bank account and store the relevant informationon blockchain 110 (Block 218). In various embodiments, digital wallet120 may display a mnemonic seed and password selection screen to user252 (Block 220). Digital wallet 120 may use BIP32, BIP39, BIP44, oranother key generation technique to create addresses and private keys,which may be encrypted and stored locally on user device 106 (Block224). Digital wallet 120 running on user device 106 may transmit theaddresses to wallet service 118 for association with the registered userID (Block 226). Wallet service 118 may transmit registrationconfirmation to digital wallet 120 in response to a successfulregistration (Block 230).

With reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B, an exemplary login process 300 forexecution on system 350 is shown, in accordance with variousembodiments. Login process 300 may include digital wallet 120 presentinga login form to user 252 (Block 302). User 252 may enter logincredentials comprising, for example, a user ID and password into thelogin form. Although user ID and password are used in this exemplaryembodiment, other identification and authentication techniques such asfingerprints, facial recognition, gesture recognition, voicerecognition, other biometrics, device ID, or other suitable dataconnected to user 252 may be used. Digital wallet 120 may transmit thecredentials to wallet service 118 over network 254 (Block 306). Walletservice 118 may receive the credentials and authenticate the useragainst stored user login information (Block 308). Authenticated usersmay then use smart contracts and payment services offered by paymentsystem 100.

With reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B, an exemplary process 400 forexecution on push notification system 450 is shown, in accordance withvarious embodiments. Push notification system may include digital wallet120 communicating across network 254 with notification sender 452 and/ordigital currency smart contract 112.

Process 400 may include notification sender 452 transmitting a pushnotification to digital wallet 120 running on user device 106. The pushnotification sender may integrate into a push notification systemoperated to send push notifications to smart phones and devices runningcompatible operating systems such as, for example, Android®, iPhone®,and Windows® smartphones (Block 402). Push notifications triggeredevents written to blockchain 110 such as, for example, successfultransactions. Digital wallet 120 may display a notification view on userdevice 106 for view by user 252 (Block 404). A user may be guidedthrough a login process similar to that illustrated in FIGS. 3A and 3Bif the user is not presently logged into digital wallet 120 (Block 406).In response to a successful login, digital wallet 120 may interact withdigital currency smart contracts 112 residing on blockchain 110 usingblockchain interface 116 (Block 408). Digital wallet 120 may consultblockchain 110 to determine whether a transaction succeeded (Block 409).Successful transactions may be written to a block in blockchain 110 toindicate the success to digital wallet 120. Digital wallet 120 maydisplay a success message 410 or a failed message 411 corresponding tothe status of the transaction.

Referring now to FIGS. 5A and 5B, an exemplary process 500 for executionon request preparation system 550 is shown, in accordance with variousembodiments. Request preparation system 550 may prepare digital wallet120 running on user device 106 to interact with blockchain 110. Process500 may include digital wallet 120 prompting user 252 for a passcode orother suitable input to retrieve locally stored data (Block 502). User252 may enter the passcode into digital wallet 120 running on userdevice 106 (Block 504).

In various embodiments, digital wallet 120 may extract asymmetricprivate keys stored locally on user device 106 using the passcode (Block506). Digital wallet 120 may prepare a blockchain request to interactwith blockchain 110 (Block 508). Digital wallet 120 running on userdevice 106 may also sign the request to interact with blockchain 110using the private key retrieved from local storage and applying anasymmetric encryption operation to the request (Block 510).

With reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B, an exemplary process 600 fortransferring funds between a fiat currency and a digital currency ontransfer system 650 is shown, in accordance with various embodiments.Transfer system 650 includes digital wallet 120 in electroniccommunication over network 254 with wallet service 118 and digitalcurrency smart contract 112 residing on blockchain 110. Wallet service118 may also be in electronic communication with EFT system 102 overnetwork 254.

Process 600 may include a login process such as, for example, theprocess described in FIGS. 3A and 3B (Block 602). User 252 may select afund transfer in the digital wallet 120 (Block 604). Digital wallet 120may display a fund transfer form in response to the user selection(Block 606). User 252 may populate the fields of the fund transfer formwith transfer details such as a source account, destination account, andamount (Block 608). The source account and/or the destination accountmay be a fiat currency account (e.g., bank account in U.S. dollars) or adigital currency account (e.g., a credit transferable via blockchain).The amount may be a desired amount in the destination currency or asource amount in the source currency.

In various embodiments, digital wallet 120 may prepare a blockchainrequest as described in FIGS. 5A and 5B for communication to walletservice 118 over network 254 (Block 610). Wallet service 118 may requesttransfer between user 252 account and an escrow account (Block 612).Digital wallet 120 may display a transfer submission confirmation touser 252 on user device 106 to confirm the transfer (Block 614). EFTsystem 102 may process the transfer in response to the transfer requestand/or the confirmation (Block 616). EFT system 102 may notify walletservice 118 that the transfer was successfully completed (Block 618).Wallet service 118 may then provide the transfer details to digitalcurrency smart contract 112 maintained on blockchain 110 (Block 620).Balances of the user account and escrow account may be updated andstored on blockchain 110 (Block 622). Wallet service 118 may notify user252 of a successful transfer as illustrated with reference to FIGS. 4Aand 4B above (Block 624).

Referring now to FIGS. 7A and 7B, an exemplary process 700 is shown forcompleting payment transactions on a payment system 750, in accordancewith various embodiments. Payment system 750 may include a payer 752using a digital wallet 753 running on a user device 106 configured forelectronic communication over network 254 with wallet service 118, riskassessment system 108, digital currency smart contracts 112 onblockchain 110, and digital wallet 755 running on a different userdevice 106. Payee 754 may interact with digital wallet 755 to receivepayment from payer 752.

In various embodiments, process 700 may include payer 752 logging intodigital wallet 753 as illustrated above in login process 300 (Block702). Payer 752 may choose payment in digital wallet 120 (Block 704).Digital wallet 120 may display a payment form for completion by payer752 on the user device 106 (Block 706). The payment form may beconfigured to receive payment details entered by payer 752 includingfields for payee address, payee amount, payee name, and/or other payeeinformation to facilitate the transfer of funds to payee 754 (Block708).

In various embodiments, digital wallet 120 may prepare a blockchainrequest using process 500, for example (Block 710). The blockchainrequest may include the payment details including payee address andamount. Digital wallet 120 may interact with blockchain 110 usingblockchain interface 116 to send the payment request to blockchain 110(Block 712). Digital wallet 120 may present payer 752 with a paymentsubmission confirmation (Block 714). A payment event notification may begenerated in response to the transaction request for digital currencysmart contract 112 on blockchain 110 (Block 716). The payment eventnotification may notify risk assessment systems 108 of a requestedtransaction for fraud risk assessment. The transaction request may beanalyzed by risk assessment system 108 to assess whether the transactionposes an acceptable fraud risk (Block 718).

In various embodiments, the risk assessment system 108 may provide thefraud risk decision and enable an approval decision based at least inpart on the fraud assessment (Block 720). In response to a positive riskassessment (i.e., an acceptable fraud risk), the transaction may bewritten in a block of the blockchain 110 with or without the riskassessment result included to adjust the account balances (Block 722).Risk assessment system 108 may notify payer 752 by communicating withwallet service 118 and/or digital wallet 753 (Block 724). Riskassessment system 108 may also notify payee 754 by communicating withwallet service 118 and/or digital wallet 755 (Block 726).

Referring now to FIGS. 8A and 8B, an exemplary process 800 is shown forexecution on credit processing system 850, in accordance with variousembodiments. System 850 may include a digital wallet 120 operating onuser device 106 in communication over network 254 with wallet service118. Wallet service 118 may be in electronic communication with lendingsystem 104 over network 254. Digital wallet 120 may also be inelectronic communication over network 254 with digital currency smartcontracts 112 maintained on blockchain 110.

In various embodiments, process 800 may include the user 252 logginginto digital wallet 120 as illustrated above in login process 300 (Block802). User 252 may select credit application from digital wallet 120(Block 804). The digital wallet running on user device 106 may presentthe user with a credit application form (Block 804). The creditapplication form may include fields for personal information such asname, social security number, driver's license number, driver's licenseissue date, driver's license expiration date, telephone number, emailaddress, or other personal information for use in the credit applicationprocess. User 252 may provide personal information to digital wallet 120by completing the credit application form (Block 808).

In various embodiments, digital wallet 120 may transmit the personalinformation to wallet service 118 (Block 810). Wallet service 118 maysubmit the credit application to lending system 104 (Block 812). Digitalwallet 120 may present user 252 with a credit application submissionconfirmation (Block 814). Lending system 104 may also process the creditapplication to determine whether to extend credit for user 252 (Block816). In response to approving the credit application, lending system104 may notify wallet service 118 of credit line approval decision(Block 818). Wallet service 118 may provide credit application outcomeby writing the decision in digital currency smart contract 112maintained on blockchain 110 (Block 820). Digital currency smartcontract 112 and/or wallet service 118 may notify the customer of thecrediting decision using push notification system 450 as describedabove, for example (Blocks 822).

A payment network based on a blockchain, as described herein, maysimplify peer-to-peer payment networks by using the blockchain as aledger. The settlement process for payees may be near-instant. Thesolution may be easily integrated into ecommerce platforms. The paymentnetwork may also lead to lower discount fees for merchants as theoverhead cost of maintaining the network may be reduced. Additionally,any user can pay any other user. Transparency is very high for variousembodiments using a consortium or public blockchain since accounting isperformed, for example, by a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO)instead of a specific financial institution.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include alerting asubscriber when their computer is offline. The system may includegenerating customized information and alerting a remote subscriber thatthe information can be accessed from their computer. The alerts aregenerated by filtering received information, building information alertsand formatting the alerts into data blocks based upon subscriberpreference information. The data blocks are transmitted to thesubscriber's wireless device which, when connected to the computer,causes the computer to auto-launch an application to display theinformation alert and provide access to more detailed information aboutthe information alert. More particularly, the method may compriseproviding a viewer application to a subscriber for installation on theremote subscriber computer; receiving information at a transmissionserver sent from a data source over the Internet, the transmissionserver comprising a microprocessor and a memory that stores the remotesubscriber's preferences for information format, destination address,specified information, and transmission schedule, wherein themicroprocessor filters the received information by comparing thereceived information to the specified information; generates aninformation alert from the filtered information that contains a name, aprice and a universal resource locator (URL), which specifies thelocation of the data source; formats the information alert into datablocks according to said information format; and transmits the formattedinformation alert over a wireless communication channel to a wirelessdevice associated with a subscriber based upon the destination addressand transmission schedule, wherein the alert activates the applicationto cause the information alert to display on the remote subscribercomputer and to enable connection via the URL to the data source overthe Internet when the wireless device is locally connected to the remotesubscriber computer and the remote subscriber computer comes online.

In various embodiments, the system and method may include a graphicaluser interface for dynamically relocating/rescaling obscured textualinformation of an underlying window to become automatically viewable tothe user. By permitting textual information to be dynamically relocatedbased on an overlap condition, the computer's ability to displayinformation is improved. More particularly, the method for dynamicallyrelocating textual information within an underlying window displayed ina graphical user interface may comprise displaying a first windowcontaining textual information in a first format within a graphical userinterface on a computer screen; displaying a second window within thegraphical user interface; constantly monitoring the boundaries of thefirst window and the second window to detect an overlap condition wherethe second window overlaps the first window such that the textualinformation in the first window is obscured from a user's view;determining the textual information would not be completely viewable ifrelocated to an unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating afirst measure of the area of the first window and a second measure ofthe area of the unobstructed portion of the first window; calculating ascaling factor which is proportional to the difference between the firstmeasure and the second measure; scaling the textual information basedupon the scaling factor; automatically relocating the scaled textualinformation, by a processor, to the unobscured portion of the firstwindow in a second format during an overlap condition so that the entirescaled textual information is viewable on the computer screen by theuser; and automatically returning the relocated scaled textualinformation, by the processor, to the first format within the firstwindow when the overlap condition no longer exists.

In various embodiments, the system may also include isolating andremoving malicious code from electronic messages (e.g., email) toprevent a computer from being compromised, for example by being infectedwith a computer virus. The system may scan electronic communications formalicious computer code and clean the electronic communication before itmay initiate malicious acts. The system operates by physically isolatinga received electronic communication in a “quarantine” sector of thecomputer memory. A quarantine sector is a memory sector created by thecomputer's operating system such that files stored in that sector arenot permitted to act on files outside that sector. When a communicationcontaining malicious code is stored in the quarantine sector, the datacontained within the communication is compared to maliciouscode-indicative patterns stored within a signature database. Thepresence of a particular malicious code-indicative pattern indicates thenature of the malicious code. The signature database further includescode markers that represent the beginning and end points of themalicious code. The malicious code is then extracted from maliciouscode-containing communication. An extraction routine is run by a fileparsing component of the processing unit. The file parsing routineperforms the following operations: scan the communication for theidentified beginning malicious code marker; flag each scanned bytebetween the beginning marker and the successive end malicious codemarker; continue scanning until no further beginning malicious codemarker is found; and create a new data file by sequentially copying allnon-flagged data bytes into the new file, which thus forms a sanitizedcommunication file. The new, sanitized communication is transferred to anon-quarantine sector of the computer memory. Subsequently, all data onthe quarantine sector is erased. More particularly, the system includesa method for protecting a computer from an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code by receiving an electronic communicationcontaining malicious code in a computer with a memory having a bootsector, a quarantine sector and a non-quarantine sector; storing thecommunication in the quarantine sector of the memory of the computer,wherein the quarantine sector is isolated from the boot and thenon-quarantine sector in the computer memory, where code in thequarantine sector is prevented from performing write actions on othermemory sectors; extracting, via file parsing, the malicious code fromthe electronic communication to create a sanitized electroniccommunication, wherein the extracting comprises scanning thecommunication for an identified beginning malicious code marker,flagging each scanned byte between the beginning marker and a successiveend malicious code marker, continuing scanning until no furtherbeginning malicious code marker is found, and creating a new data fileby sequentially copying all non-flagged data bytes into a new file thatforms a sanitized communication file; transferring the sanitizedelectronic communication to the non-quarantine sector of the memory; anddeleting all data remaining in the quarantine sector.

In various embodiments, the system may also address the problem ofretaining control over customers during affiliate purchase transactions,using a system for co-marketing the “look and feel” of the host web pagewith the product-related content information of the advertisingmerchant's web page. The system can be operated by a third-partyoutsource provider, who acts as a broker between multiple hosts andmerchants. Prior to implementation, a host places links to a merchant'swebpage on the host's web page. The links are associated withproduct-related content on the merchant's web page. Additionally, theoutsource provider system stores the “look and feel” information fromeach host's web pages in a computer data store, which is coupled to acomputer server. The “look and feel” information includes visuallyperceptible elements such as logos, colors, page layout, navigationsystem, frames, mouse-over effects or other elements that are consistentthrough some or all of each host's respective web pages. A customer whoclicks on an advertising link is not transported from the host web pageto the merchant's web page, but instead is redirected to a composite webpage that combines product information associated with the selected itemand visually perceptible elements of the host web page. The outsourceprovider's server responds by first identifying the host web page wherethe link has been selected and retrieving the corresponding stored “lookand feel” information. The server constructs a composite web page usingthe retrieved “look and feel” information of the host web page, with theproduct-related content embedded within it, so that the composite webpage is visually perceived by the customer as associated with the hostweb page. The server then transmits and presents this composite web pageto the customer so that she effectively remains on the host web page topurchase the item without being redirected to the third party merchantaffiliate. Because such composite pages are visually perceived by thecustomer as associated with the host web page, they give the customerthe impression that she is viewing pages served by the host. Further,the customer is able to purchase the item without being redirected tothe third party merchant affiliate, thus allowing the host to retaincontrol over the customer. This system enables the host to receive thesame advertising revenue streams as before but without the loss ofvisitor traffic and potential customers. More particularly, the systemmay be useful in an outsource provider serving web pages offeringcommercial opportunities. The computer store containing data, for eachof a plurality of first web pages, defining a plurality of visuallyperceptible elements, which visually perceptible elements correspond tothe plurality of first web pages; wherein each of the first web pagesbelongs to one of a plurality of web page owners; wherein each of thefirst web pages displays at least one active link associated with acommerce object associated with a buying opportunity of a selected oneof a plurality of merchants, and wherein the selected merchant, theoutsource provider, and the owner of the first web page displaying theassociated link are each third parties with respect to one other; acomputer server at the outsource provider, which computer server iscoupled to the computer store and programmed to: receive from the webbrowser of a computer user a signal indicating activation of one of thelinks displayed by one of the first web pages; automatically identify asthe source page the one of the first web pages on which the link hasbeen activated; in response to identification of the source page,automatically retrieve the stored data corresponding to the source page;and using the data retrieved, automatically generate and transmit to theweb browser a second web page that displays: information associated withthe commerce object associated with the link that has been activated,and the plurality of visually perceptible elements visuallycorresponding to the source page.

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided. In thedetailed description herein, references to “various embodiments”, “oneembodiment”, “an embodiment”, “an example embodiment”, etc., indicatethat the embodiment described may include a particular feature,structure, or characteristic, but every embodiment may not necessarilyinclude the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover,such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic isdescribed in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it iswithin the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature,structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodimentswhether or not explicitly described. After reading the description, itwill be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implementthe disclosure in alternative embodiments.

In various embodiments, the methods described herein are implementedusing the various particular machines described herein. The methodsdescribed herein may be implemented using the below particular machines,and those hereinafter developed, in any suitable combination, as wouldbe appreciated immediately by one skilled in the art. Further, as isunambiguous from this disclosure, the methods described herein mayresult in various transformations of certain articles.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) may not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

The various system components discussed herein may include one or moreof the following: a host server or other computing systems including aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. Various databases used hereinmay include: client data; merchant data; financial institution data;and/or like data useful in the operation of the system. As those skilledin the art will appreciate, user computer may include an operatingsystem (e.g., WINDOWS®, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®, SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) aswell as various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers.

The present system or any part(s) or function(s) thereof may beimplemented using hardware, software or a combination thereof and may beimplemented in one or more computer systems or other processing systems.However, the manipulations performed by embodiments were often referredto in terms, such as matching or selecting, which are commonlyassociated with mental operations performed by a human operator. No suchcapability of a human operator is necessary, or desirable in most cases,in any of the operations described herein. Rather, the operations may bemachine operations. Useful machines for performing the variousembodiments include general purpose digital computers or similardevices.

In fact, in various embodiments, the embodiments are directed toward oneor more computer systems capable of carrying out the functionalitydescribed herein. The computer system includes one or more processors,such as processor. The processor is connected to a communicationinfrastructure (e.g., a communications bus, cross over bar, or network).Various software embodiments are described in terms of this exemplarycomputer system. After reading this description, it will become apparentto a person skilled in the relevant art(s) how to implement variousembodiments using other computer systems and/or architectures. Computersystem can include a display interface that forwards graphics, text, andother data from the communication infrastructure (or from a frame buffernot shown) for display on a display unit.

The computer system also includes a main memory, such as for examplerandom access memory (RAM), and may also include a secondary memory. Thesecondary memory may include, for example, a hard disk drive and/or aremovable storage drive, representing a floppy disk drive, a magnetictape drive, an optical disk drive, etc. The removable storage drivereads from and/or writes to a removable storage unit in a well-knownmanner. Removable storage unit represents a floppy disk, magnetic tape,optical disk, etc. which is read by and written to by removable storagedrive. As will be appreciated, the removable storage unit includes acomputer usable storage medium having stored therein computer softwareand/or data.

In various embodiments, secondary memory may include other similardevices for allowing computer programs or other instructions to beloaded into computer system. Such devices may include, for example, aremovable storage unit and an interface. Examples of such may include aprogram cartridge and cartridge interface (such as that found in videogame devices), a removable memory chip (such as an erasable programmableread only memory (EPROM), or programmable read only memory (PROM)) andassociated socket, and other removable storage units and interfaces,which allow software and data to be transferred from the removablestorage unit to computer system.

The computer system may also include a communications interface.Communications interface allows software and data to be transferredbetween computer system and external devices. Examples of communicationsinterface may include a modem, a network interface (such as an Ethernetcard), a communications port, a Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association (PCMCIA) slot and card, etc. Software and datatransferred via communications interface are in the form of signalswhich may be electronic, electromagnetic, optical or other signalscapable of being received by communications interface. These signals areprovided to communications interface via a communications path (e.g.,channel). This channel carries signals and may be implemented usingwire, cable, fiber optics, a telephone line, a cellular link, a radiofrequency (RF) link, wireless and other communications channels.

The terms “computer program medium” and “computer usable medium” and“computer readable medium” are used to generally refer to media such asremovable storage drive and a hard disk installed in hard disk drive.These computer program products provide software to computer system.

Computer programs (also referred to as computer control logic) arestored in main memory and/or secondary memory. Computer programs mayalso be received via communications interface. Such computer programs,when executed, enable the computer system to perform the features asdiscussed herein. In particular, the computer programs, when executed,enable the processor to perform the features of various embodiments.Accordingly, such computer programs represent controllers of thecomputer system.

In various embodiments, software may be stored in a computer programproduct and loaded into computer system using removable storage drive,hard disk drive or communications interface. The control logic(software), when executed by the processor, causes the processor toperform the functions of various embodiments as described herein. Invarious embodiments, hardware components such as application specificintegrated circuits (ASICs). Implementation of the hardware statemachine so as to perform the functions described herein will be apparentto persons skilled in the relevant art(s).

In various embodiments, the server may include application servers (e.g.WEB SPHERE, WEB LOGIC, JBOSS). In various embodiments, the server mayinclude web servers (e.g. APACHE, IIS, GWS, SUN JAVA® SYSTEM WEBSERVER).

A web client includes any device (e.g., personal computer) whichcommunicates via any network, for example such as those discussedherein. Such browser applications comprise Internet browsing softwareinstalled within a computing unit or a system to conduct onlinetransactions and/or communications. These computing units or systems maytake the form of a computer or set of computers, although other types ofcomputing units or systems may be used, including laptops, notebooks,tablets, hand held computers, personal digital assistants, set-topboxes, workstations, computer-servers, main frame computers,mini-computers, PC servers, pervasive computers, network sets ofcomputers, personal computers, such as IPADS®, IMACS®, and MACBOOKS®,kiosks, terminals, point of sale (POS) devices and/or terminals,televisions, or any other device capable of receiving data over anetwork. A web-client may run MICROSOFT® INTERNET EXPLORER®, MOZILLA®FIREFOX®, GOOGLE® CHROME®, APPLE® Safari, or any other of the myriadsoftware packages available for browsing the internet.

Practitioners will appreciate that a web client may or may not be indirect contact with an application server such as a digital wallet hub.For example, a web client may access the services of an applicationserver through another server and/or hardware component, which may havea direct or indirect connection to an Internet server. For example, aweb client may communicate with an application server via a loadbalancer. In various embodiments, access is through a network or theInternet through a commercially-available web-browser software package.

As those skilled in the art will appreciate, a web client includes anoperating system (e.g., WINDOWS®/CE/Mobile, OS2, UNIX®, LINUX®,SOLARIS®, MacOS, etc.) as well as various conventional support softwareand drivers typically associated with computers. A web client mayinclude any suitable personal computer, network computer, workstation,personal digital assistant, cellular phone, smart phone, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. A web client can be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In various embodiments, access isthrough a network or the Internet through a commercially availableweb-browser software package. A web client may implement securityprotocols such as Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and Transport LayerSecurity (TLS). A web client may implement several application layerprotocols including http, https, ftp, and sftp.

In various embodiments, components, modules, and/or engines of system100 may be implemented as micro-applications or micro-apps. Micro-appsare typically deployed in the context of a mobile operating system,including for example, a WINDOWS® mobile operating system, an ANDROID®Operating System, APPLE® IOS®, a BLACKBERRY® operating system and thelike. The micro-app may be configured to leverage the resources of thelarger operating system and associated hardware via a set ofpredetermined rules which govern the operations of various operatingsystems and hardware resources. For example, where a micro-app desiresto communicate with a device or network other than the mobile device ormobile operating system, the micro-app may leverage the communicationprotocol of the operating system and associated device hardware underthe predetermined rules of the mobile operating system. Moreover, wherethe micro-app desires an input from a user, the micro-app may beconfigured to request a response from the operating system whichmonitors various hardware components and then communicates a detectedinput from the hardware to the micro-app.

“Cloud” or “Cloud computing” includes a model for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services)that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal managementeffort or service provider interaction. Cloud computing may includelocation-independent computing, whereby shared servers provideresources, software, and data to computers and other devices on demand.For more information regarding cloud computing, see the NIST's (NationalInstitute of Standards and Technology) definition of cloud computing athttp://csrc.nist.govpublications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf (lastvisited June 2012), which is hereby incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

As used herein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onesystem component to another over a network connection. Additionally, asused herein, “data” may include encompassing information such ascommands, queries, files, data for storage, and the like in digital orany other form.

Any databases discussed herein may include relational, hierarchical,graphical, or object-oriented structure and/or any other databaseconfigurations. Common database products that may be used to implementthe databases include DB2 by IBM® (Armonk, N.Y.), various databaseproducts available from ORACLE® Corporation (Redwood Shores, Calif.),MICROSOFT® Access® or MICROSOFT® SQL Server® by MICROSOFT® Corporation(Redmond. Wash.). MySQL by MySQL AB (Uppsala, Sweden), or any othersuitable database product. Moreover, the databases may be organized inany suitable manner, for example, as data tables or lookup tables. Eachrecord may be a single file, a series of files, a linked series of datafields or any other data structure. Association of certain data may beaccomplished through any desired data association technique such asthose known or practiced in the art. For example, the association may beaccomplished either manually or automatically. Automatic associationtechniques may include, for example, a database search, a databasemerge, GREP, AGREP, SQL, using a key field in the tables to speedsearches, sequential searches through all the tables and files, sortingrecords in the file according to a known order to simplify lookup,and/or the like. The association step may be accomplished by a databasemerge function, for example, using a “key field” in pre-selecteddatabases or data sectors. Various database tuning steps arecontemplated to optimize database performance. For example, frequentlyused files such as indexes may be placed on separate file systems toreduce In/Out (“I/O”) bottlenecks.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one embodiment, any suitable data storage techniquemay be utilized to store data without a standard format. Data sets maybe stored using any suitable technique, including, for example, storingindividual files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 file structure; implementing adomain whereby a dedicated file is selected that exposes one or moreelementary files containing one or more data sets; using data setsstored in individual files using a hierarchical filing system; data setsstored as records in a single file (including compression, SQLaccessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric, alphabetical by firsttuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); stored as ungrouped dataelements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements; stored as ungroupeddata elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) asin ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietary techniques that mayinclude fractal compression methods, image compression methods, etc.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other components of thesystem may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

Any of the communications, inputs, storage, databases or displaysdiscussed herein may be facilitated through a website having web pages.The term “web page” as it is used herein is not meant to limit the typeof documents and applications that might be used to interact with theuser. For example, a typical website might include, in addition tostandard HTML documents, various forms, JAVA® APPLE®ts, JAVASCRIPT,active server pages (ASP), common gateway interface scripts (CGI),extensible markup language (XML), dynamic HTML, cascading style sheets(CSS), AJAX (Asynchronous JAVASCRIPT And XML), helper applications,plug-ins, and the like. A server may include a web service that receivesa request from a web server, the request including a URL and an IPaddress (123.56.192.234). The web server retrieves the appropriate webpages and sends the data or applications for the web pages to the IPaddress. Web services are applications that are capable of interactingwith other applications over a communications means, such as theinternet. Web services are typically based on standards or protocolssuch as XML, SOAP, AJAX, WSDL and UDDI. Web services methods are wellknown in the art, and are covered in many standard texts. See, e.g.,Alex Nghiem, IT Web Services: A Roadmap for the Enterprise (2003),hereby incorporated by reference.

Practitioners will also appreciate that there are a number of methodsfor displaying data within a browser-based document. Data may berepresented as standard text or within a fixed list, scrollable list,drop-down list, editable text field, fixed text field, popup window, andthe like. Likewise, there are a number of methods available formodifying data in a web page such as, for example, free text entry usinga keyboard, selection of menu items, check boxes, option boxes, and thelike.

The system and method may be described herein in terms of functionalblock components, screen shots, optional selections and variousprocessing steps. It should be appreciated that such functional blocksmay be realized by any number of hardware and/or software componentsconfigured to perform the specified functions. For example, the systemmay employ various integrated circuit components, e.g., memory elements,processing elements, logic elements, look-up tables, and the like, whichmay carry out a variety of functions under the control of one or moremicroprocessors or other control devices. Similarly, the softwareelements of the system may be implemented with any programming orscripting language such as C, C++, C#, JAVA®, JAVASCRIPT, VBScript,Macromedia Cold Fusion, COBOL, MICROSOFT® Active Server Pages, assembly,PERL, PHP, awk, Python. Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures. PL/SQL, anyUNIX shell script, and extensible markup language (XML) with the variousalgorithms being implemented with any combination of data structures,objects, processes, routines or other programming elements. Further, itshould be noted that the system may employ any number of conventionaltechniques for data transmission, signaling, data processing, networkcontrol, and the like. Still further, the system could be used to detector prevent security issues with a client-side scripting language, suchas JAVASCRIPT, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “JAVA® Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

The merchant computer and the bank computer may be interconnected via asecond network, referred to as a payment network. The payment networkwhich may be part of certain transactions represents existingproprietary networks that presently accommodate transactions for creditcards, debit cards, and other types of financial/banking cards. Thepayment network is a closed network that is assumed to be secure fromeavesdroppers. Exemplary transaction networks may include the AmericanExpress®, VisaNet®, Veriphone®, Discover Card®, PayPal®, ApplePay®,GooglePay®, private networks (e.g., department store networks), and/orany other payment networks.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flowchartillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser WINDOWS®, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc.Practitioners will appreciate that the illustrated steps describedherein may comprise in any number of configurations including the use ofWINDOWS®, webpages, web forms, popup WINDOWS®, prompts and the like. Itshould be further appreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated anddescribed may be combined into single webpages and/or WINDOWS® but havebeen expanded for the sake of simplicity. In other cases, stepsillustrated and described as single process steps may be separated intomultiple webpages and/or WINDOWS® but have been combined for simplicity.

Phrases and terms similar to “transaction account” may include anyaccount that may be used to facilitate a financial transaction. Phrasesand terms similar to “financial institution” or “account issuer” mayinclude any entity that offers transaction account services. Althoughoften referred to as a “financial institution,” the financialinstitution may represent any type of bank, lender or other type ofaccount issuing institution, such as credit card companies, cardsponsoring companies, or third party issuers under contract withfinancial institutions. It is further noted that other participants maybe involved in some phases of the transaction, such as an intermediarysettlement institution.

The term “non-transitory” is to be understood to remove only propagatingtransitory signals per se from the claim scope and does not relinquishrights to all standard computer-readable media that are not onlypropagating transitory signals per se. Stated another way, the meaningof the term “non-transitory computer-readable medium” and“non-transitory computer-readable storage medium” should be construed toexclude only those types of transitory computer-readable media whichwere found in In Re Nuijten to fall outside the scope of patentablesubject matter under 35 U.S.C. § 101.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any elements that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of the disclosure. The scope of the disclosure isaccordingly to be limited by nothing other than the appended claims, inwhich reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean“one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one ormore.” Moreover, where a phrase similar to ‘at least one of A, B, and C’or ‘at least one of A, B, or C’ is used in the claims or specification,it is intended that the phrase be interpreted to mean that A alone maybe present in an embodiment, B alone may be present in an embodiment, Calone may be present in an embodiment, or that any combination of theelements A, B and C may be present in a single embodiment; for example,A and B, A and C, B and C, or A and B and C.

Although the disclosure includes a method, it is contemplated that itmay be embodied as computer program instructions on a tangiblecomputer-readable carrier, such as a magnetic or optical memory or amagnetic or optical disk. All structural, chemical, and functionalequivalents to the elements of the above-described various embodimentsthat are known to those of ordinary skill in the art are expresslyincorporated herein by reference and are intended to be encompassed bythe present claims. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device or methodto address each and every problem sought to be solved by the presentdisclosure, for it to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element is intended to invoke 35 U.S.C. 112(f) unless theelement is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.” As usedherein, the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, or any other variationthereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that aprocess, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elementsdoes not include only those elements but may include other elements notexpressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, orapparatus.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A computer-implemented method, comprising:preparing a request to complete a transaction from an account associatedwith a payer digital wallet for entry on a blockchain, the request tocomplete the transaction including an amount and a payee identifierassociated with a payee digital wallet; sending the request to completethe transaction to the blockchain; approving the request to complete thetransaction; adjusting a balance of the payer digital wallet and abalance of the payee digital wallet in response to approval of therequest to complete the transaction by at least writing a portion ofdata associated with the transaction comprising the amount and the payeeidentifier to the blockchain; and recording a reputation ledgerassociated with the account in the blockchain in association with thetransaction, the reputation ledger including at least one reputationscore associated with at least one previous transaction conducted by theaccount.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein thepayee identifier comprises a payee address.
 23. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 21, wherein the computer-implemented method is performedby a payment network.
 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21,wherein the at least one previous transaction includes a buyingtransaction conducted by the account.
 25. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 21, wherein the at least one previous transactionincludes a selling transaction conducted by the account.
 26. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising providing atleast a portion of the reputation ledger associated with the account toa user associated with a different account.
 27. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 21, further comprising registering the payee digitalwallet having the payee identifier and a private key associated with thepayee digital wallet in response to validating a bank account associatedwith the payee digital wallet against the blockchain.
 28. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising generating afraud assessment for the request to complete the transaction based atleast in part on at least one of: historical information about one ormore user agents, one or more device identifications, or data coupled tothe account.
 29. The computer-implemented method of claim 28, furthercomprising approving the transaction in response to the fraud assessmentindicating that a likelihood of fraud for the transaction is acceptable.30. A system, comprising: at least one computing device; andinstructions executable in the at least one computing device, whereinwhen executed the instructions cause the at least one computing deviceto at least: prepare a request to complete a transaction from an accountassociated with a payer digital wallet for entry on a blockchain, therequest to complete the transaction including an amount and a payeeidentifier associated with a payee digital wallet; send the request tocomplete the transaction to the blockchain; approve the request tocomplete the transaction; adjust a balance of the payer digital walletand a balance of the payee digital wallet in response to approval of therequest to complete the transaction by at least writing a portion ofdata associated with the transaction comprising the amount and the payeeidentifier to the blockchain; and record a reputation ledger associatedwith the account in the blockchain in association with the transaction,the reputation ledger including at least one reputation score associatedwith at least one previous transaction conducted by the account.
 31. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the payee identifier comprises a payeeaddress.
 32. The system of claim 30, wherein the at least one computingdevice implements a payment network.
 33. The system of claim 30, whereinthe at least one previous transaction includes a buying transactionconducted by the account.
 34. The system of claim 30, wherein the atleast one previous transaction includes a selling transaction conductedby the account.
 35. The system of claim 30, wherein the instructionsfurther cause the at least one computing device to at least provide atleast a portion of the reputation ledger associated with the account toa user associated with a different account.
 36. The system of claim 30,wherein the instructions further cause the at least one computing deviceto at least: generate a fraud assessment for the request to complete thetransaction based at least in part on at least one of: historicalinformation about one or more user agents, one or more deviceidentifications, or data coupled to the account; and approve thetransaction in response to the fraud assessment indicating that alikelihood of fraud for the transaction is acceptable.
 37. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executablein at least one computing device, wherein when executed the instructionscause the at least one computing device to at least: prepare a requestto complete a transaction from an account associated with a payerdigital wallet for entry on a blockchain, the request to complete thetransaction including an amount and a payee identifier associated with apayee digital wallet; send the request to complete the transaction tothe blockchain; approve the request to complete the transaction; adjusta balance of the payer digital wallet and a balance of the payee digitalwallet in response to approval of the request to complete thetransaction by at least writing a portion of data associated with thetransaction comprising the amount and the payee identifier to theblockchain; and record a reputation ledger associated with the accountin the blockchain in association with the transaction, the reputationledger including at least one reputation score associated with at leastone previous transaction conducted by the account.
 38. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the payeeidentifier comprises a payee address.
 39. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the at least one previoustransaction includes a selling transaction conducted by the account anda buying transaction conducted by the account.
 40. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 37, wherein the instructions furthercause the at least one computing device to at least: generate a fraudassessment for the request to complete the transaction based at least inpart on at least one of: historical information about one or more useragents, one or more device identifications, or data coupled to theaccount; and approve the transaction in response to the fraud assessmentindicating that a likelihood of fraud for the transaction is acceptable.